Thanksgiving

"Cozy comfort" as the kittens bathed in the warmth of the fireplace. One would think with their fur, they would look for cooler places!






The kids dug a snow cave while they were here. Kat, Andy, Tim and Huimin helped (and got to play in the cave too). It was quite warm and sheltered on the inside, keeping them from the biting, cold wind that continued to blow across the prairie.




Later on, Huimin, Tim and Serena put their talents to work and finished off the Christmas ornaments. Their creations turned out beautiful. The final touch is to add the family pictures to those with frames.


Tim took time out and did some drawings that came out fantastic. It is such a blessing to have a talent! We enjoyed his company and that of his family. It is so good to have a child come home!

Time flew by. It seemed like, except for eating the turkey and ham dinner on Thanksgiving, there wasn't time to get hardly anything accomplished. Everyone came and the next thing we knew, it was time to get ready to leave. On the last night together, Tim brought out his new XBox Kinect game. They took the furniture out of the family room downstairs and then everyone took turns interacting with the game. Well, except me! You have to be able to jump and be quite agile to play. It WAS fun to watch, though.

Everyone went home on Sunday and what a travel day that was!! Tim and family went South, and Andy and Chris went East. They braved snow storms where they couldn't see but inches in front of the car. Tim then hit icy roads going over the Sierra Nevadas. We lived on prayers that whole night. Finally, in the early morning hours of Monday, they got to their homes.

Tim, Huimin and kids, after returning to their home, then went to retrieve their pets. Madison was the pet-sitter for Bane and Lily. She is such a caring person and did such an excellent job!! (Thanks to Victoria and Nick for letting their house be turned into a temporary "zoo"!!)

God is good. I am so very thankful that we are so blessed to know His love.

Getting Home

Tim could not leave in time to beat the storm coming into the Sierra Nevada's so we headed north instead. The heavy rain pounded on our windshield as we took off and soon turned to light rain as we started up the coast. The night was so beautiful. Luminous clouds filled the sky and the world seemed to stand quietly in the stillness of the twilight. Beginning our travels at 11 at night, added to the darkness, with fewer cars on the road.

The miles seemed long as we crept along at the posted 55 mph speed limit--which occassionally slipped back up to 65. But, the good thing was there was no blizzard here!

Finally we got through Spokane and hit the mountains on the other side and here we ran into winter weather. The snow and ice on Lookout Pass put us into 4-wheel drive. It was a hair-raising experience, but we got through and eventually got to Montana.

Traveling clear roads, for awhile again, we enjoyed the respite and stopped for tacos in Missoula. Then, on to more mountains and Roger's Pass. It was not too bad. With the beautiful eerie moon, that seemed to be bathed in a soft white veil, the mountain scenery was breathtaking. Tim had us breathing down his neck to "go slower! go slower!" as we crept around the snowpacked winding curves at about 30-40 mph. The mountains were a dark purple hue. I told Huimin to look out the window and she did, then screamed and turned around and hugged her seat. The mountains were a ways out and between the edge of the road and the mountains was a dark abyss. It was like everything dropped off into a huge dark nothinginess! It was scary. Tim crawled along at a slower speed and we finally got out of the mountains!

It is good to be back home. The dogs were excited, the cats were excited, and the kids were very happy and are now waiting for Christopher. All is good. God is good.

Heading Home Soon

It took awhile, but finally Lily (Serena's cat) took to the kittens. I hate to leave with them as she is going to miss them!

Little SuperFuzz had no problem cozing up with Bane.




When you are "little" you should have a little more respect for the ones that are "bigger" than you. Not Taz, he liked Bane's bed and wasn't sharing.



Its now time to head home and wouldn't you know it--there is a blizzard advisory over the California mountains for this weekend. The weather back home is dropping into the minuses, so...maybe the whole trip is going to be a winter driving challenge. I am so glad we have 4-wheel drive!

The Lord has brought me through some terrible winter storms in the past, He is not going to forsake us now. I can't count the number of times I've driven in white-out conditions, hoping to see something showing the sides of the road. One time I traveled from Colorado Springs to Montana and there was not a car on the road. Of course, I never checked weather reports, or listened to the news, so I had no idea what was going on. I got out to scrape the windshield, as my defroster wasn't working, and the road was so slick I could not even stand. I can't believe that the car was able to stay on the road!!

God is good. He gets us through our adventures. God be with us all.